Review of my crafty year and a winner........

Time for the annual round-up of my favourite makes from 2014 - scrolling back has been fun, how has the year gone so quickly? I have chosen these for various reasons - because I was proud of an original idea, because I had a heck of a job making it (but it turned out alright in the end), because I was using a new technique or toy, because it was a magazine commission that I agonized over for hours ........or just because!

January





February - looks like this is the month I discovered texture paste!

March - I seem to have been in a floral mood this month....





April





May



a bit of freehand watercolouring........



June






I'll be back with the last six months of the year tomorrow. In the meantime, the winner of the Promarkers that I posted before Christmas, chosen by random.org is:

LUCRETIA 

Congratulations, email me with your details and I will get them in the mail to you

So how was it for you?

 The last few days have been a break from blogging, but I've been pretty busy in other areas of my life....

But first, let me show you what the man in the red suit dropped down the chimney on Christmas Eve.....
  

a whole set of Simon Says Stamps inkpads - I have been hankering after these for ages, and I got a cute little aide memoir chart so that I can flip through and see what colour will work best with the papers I am using.....

and I wanted one of these cordless hot glue guns as well, the one I have stays in a tangled mess on the floor below my desk, this one can sit right there and I think I will use it a lot more - it has a precision tip so I am hoping I can use it for small embellishments, I'll let you know when I've tried it...

and just a few photos of Christmas Day, here is Max in animated conversation with Auntie Alex....

am I going to be finding bits of Lego in July?

a rare snap of me with Milo.....

and Milo telling Mummy a joke......

and lastly, five year old Milo asked for paper and pen, disappeared for a while, and came back with this note to Santa...............sweet!

I'll be back tomorrow with a round up of this years cards, and the winner of the ProMarkers..see you then x

A Merry Christmas

The very nice people at Balsam Hill asked me to review one of their products and sent me this lovely Norwegian spruce Christmas wreath...now all their products are very realistic and excellent quality, with a ten year guarantee on their trees, and when it arrived I could happily have hung it on the wall with no added decoration at all.........

but for the purpose of the review, although I only received it yesterday, I quickly added some snow spray, tiny apples that didn't make their way onto the tree, a couple of pine cones and a ribbon, and voila, it was all dressed up in time for Christmas!

I must admit that next year, when I have more time to play, I fancy a really organic look for this wreath, so will probably stick to pine cones, cinnamon sticks and a flamboyant hessian bow - I can see it in my minds eye already......

On to some of the lovely handmade Christmas cards I have received this year, thank you all so much

From my niece Ffion.....

and my big buddy Kath Stewart

From Maryellen.....

From my much loved and missed ex Florida neighbour Bev.....

Mary from my Florida craft group.....

 Cheryl from my Florida craft group....

and Bev from my Florida craft group - miss you guys so much!

and finally from my very good friend Anne - this one isn't just handmade - it's an original drawing, and hand painted, now that''s talent!

Lastly, I want to wish each and every one of you a very merry Christmas, I hope that wherever you are, the day will be a peaceful and joyous one for you.
I am taking a couple of days off from blogging, but will be back soon enough hopefully with no tales of kitchen disasters and gift failures! x

Vienna...a waltz around the market.....

Home again - and as usual I carried my camera around with me snapping away at whatever took my fancy - which often involved food, so if you are hungry, look away now......

I seem to have a fascination for imposing doors......

 and door handles! I know, a bit odd....

but I do love fairy tale churches that look as though they have been spun from sugar....

in the markets, I adored the stalls that had ornaments of just one colour, this dazzling display of silvery white looked stunning.....

then there was all the patisserie's - delectable....

I loved the bold lanterns hanging from the bare trees...

in one store they had an area set up where children, wearing little bakers aprons and hats, were busy making their own Christmas cookies.....

but the master baker was on hand to show them how it was done....

The Danube river was a bit of a letdown. It is very prone to flooding so it has been shored up on all sides with concrete, taking away a bit of the romance - 

Here I am standing by what we thought was the Blue Danube, but turned out to be a man-made storm drain! 

Seeing inside the world famous opera house was impossible if you didn't have tickets for a performance. We briefly flirted with the idea of maybe selling our grandchildren or taking out a mortgage to pay for a ticket, but that wasn't going to work, so we just walked all around the building, gazing at the very splendid chandeliers glittering inside

If any of you make gingerbread at Christmas, just look at this display - all freshly baked.....

and the icing decoration was an art form.....

and if you ever wondered where pretzels originated......

and finally, each of these ornaments was handmade- or so he said!

So I hope you've enjoyed a little jaunt around the streets of Vienna with me this morning.

See you tomorrow x